Taking Care of Matt, Chibi Edition
by Chibii94
Summary: Set in Wammy's when Matt and Mello are nine years old, Matt is sick, and Mello takes care of him. Matt's parents never really cared for him, so he is confused by Mello's TLC


Sun was streaming in the window as Mello opened his eyes. It was Saturday, so he didn't have to go to school. He sat up, stretched, and looked at the bed across from his. Matt must still be asleep. Mello could see his tousled red mop peeking from the top of the Pokemon bedspread. Mello hopped out of bed and got dressed. Room inspections would be soon, so he should probably clean. On mornings without classes, one of the caretakers would check in on the younger children and make sure rooms were kept in order. Mello put his scattered books and school papers on the desk, threw away numerous chocolate wrappers, and made his bed as well as any nine-year-old can be expected to make a bed. Matt had still not stirred despite the noise Mello had made. He needed to put his scattered video games away, so Mello should probably wake him. Mello leaned over the bed and shook his friend's shoulder.

"Matt, wake up. It's Saturday. Get your side of the room cleaned up, then after inspection we can play."

Matt made a small groaning noise and turned toward Mello. Something was...wrong. His cheeks were as red as his hair, and he winced as he opened his eyes. "No" he said weakly and pulled the blanket over his head.

"Matt? You okay?" sometimes Matt was up late playing video games and didn't want to get up, but he was acting really strange. At that moment, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Mello said.

The door opened and a middle-aged man walked in. It was Mr. Benton, the caretaker for all the boys 8-12 years old. Before Wammy's, he had been a teacher of gifted students at an English boarding school, and he was very well liked by his charges.

"Good morning, boys. Another late morning for Matt?" he turned a blind eye when Matt ignored curfew to play games, as long as is didn't affect his grades.

"I think something's wrong. He doesn't look good." Mello gestured to the lump under the covers. Mr. Benton strode over next to the bed.

"Matt, love, are you not feeling well?" he asked gently.

Matt's head emerged from under the covers. He nodded.

"Oh dear," Mr. Benton put his hand on Matt's forehead, "He has a fever, probably the same thing the other boys have been catching. I'll fetch the nurse."

The nurse confirmed that Matt had the same twenty-four-hour bug that was going through the boys' dorm.

"He should be feeling better by tomorrow," the nurse said "He just needs to rest." She turned to Mello, who was standing just out of the way "Mello, dear, please let your roommate get some rest. And try to stay away from him. You don't want to end up catching it yourself. I'll check in on him later." she left the room with Mr. Benton.

"Fat chance. No way I'm leaving you alone" Mello said the second the door closed. Mello never really listened unless a caretaker was watching; besides, Matt was sick, and Mello was going to take care of him. Before her death, Mello's mother had always taken care of him when he was sick. He was born to a Russian mob family, and despite being surrounded by crime and violence, Mello's mother was always gentle and caring toward her son. Mello teared up thinking about her, but he quickly blinked them away. Now was not the time to be thinking about his past, he had a job to do.

Matt had been propped up on pillows when the nurse was examining him, and he hadn't felt like moving since then. Mello walked to the bed and looked at his friend.

"Matt, would you like it if I got you some water?" Mello's mother had always made sure he had plenty of water when he was sick.

"Yeah, that would be nice." Matt was zoned out, but his tone was grateful.

Mello grabbed Matt's favorite Legend of Zelda cup and filled it with cool water from the kitchen that all the boys on their floor shared. While he was in the kitchen, he was struck by another idea. When he had a fever, his mom always soaked a rag in cool water and put it on his forehead. He soaked a rag and brought it back with him. He handed Matt the water.

"Thanks, Mel." He took a drink and put the cup on the floor next to the bed.

"Lean back." Mello said. Matt relaxed back into the pillows, and Mello placed the cloth on his hot forehead. He sighed with relief as the cool water touched his fevered skin. Matt looked like he was falling asleep again. Mello tucked the blanket around him as he drifted off, then went to his desk. He would study while Matt slept. That way he could keep an eye on him.

Matt slept for several more hours, with Mello only leaving to get snacks. When he woke up again, he looked a bit more alert. He looked at Mello, who had walked over to his bed.

"You're still here?" Matt asked foggily, sitting up.

"Yeah, do you want me to go?"

"No, i was just...confused. You can stay."

Mello went to his bookshelf and pulled out a thick book with a bright, colorful scene on the cover. It was a book of Russian fairy tales. Last Christmas, Roger had given all of the younger children books of fairy tales from their native countries. He sat cross-legged on Matt's bed and opened the book. Matt looked at him questioningly.

"Would you like it if I read you a story?" Mello asked

"What are you doing?" Matt's head was clear enough to find Mello's behavior...odd.

"I'm taking care of you. That's what you do when someone's sick. At least it's what my mom did. Do you not like it?"

"No, I do. It's just….my mom never really seemed to want to be around me, so when I was sick she'd just check on me every few hours and tell me what a nuisance I was. I guess I've never been taken care of like this before." Matt looked down at his hands.

"That sounds awful. My mom staying with me always helped me feel better." Mello's eyes were sad as he remembered.

"It wasn't so bad, but I like this better. Please stay." there was something comforting about having someone around, especially if that someone was Mello. Despite his sharp tongue, Mello was Matt's best friend. Neither of them had parents, so they were all the other had.

"I wasn't planning on leaving anyway. Would you like another cloth for your forehead before I start reading?"

Matt nodded.

Mello retrieved another cloth from the kitchen and placed it on Matt's forehead. He was still burning hot, and his green eyes were glazed.

"Thank you" he said, settling into the pillows once more.

Mello sat back on the bed and started turning the pages.

"Okay, this one is called 'Vasiili the Unlucky'..."

Several stories later, a knock came at the door. Mello quickly climbed off the bed and jumped onto his own, pretending to read the fairy tale book still in his hand.

"Come in" he said nonchalantly.

"I'm here to check on Matt" the nurse said as she walked in. Seeing him awake, she addressed him "How are you feeling, love?"

"A little better, still not good." Matt sat up, looking at her, but still spaced out.

"Has Mello been letting you rest?" her question was accompanied by a suspicious glance at the other boy.

"Yeah, he hasn't bothered me at all." Matt was only half lying. Mello hadn't bothered him, but he hadn't left him alone either.

The nurse put her hand on Matt's flushed cheek. "It does feel like the fever is starting to come down. Stay in bed the rest of today and you should feel much better tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am." Matt said.

"All right, I'll check in again before curfew. See you later, boys."

The second the door closed behind her, Mello was back beside Matt's bed.

"Thanks for not ratting me out, Matt."

"You're my friend, it's what we do. Plus," he fidgeted with the blankets "I like you taking care of me. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble for it." Matt fell back on the pillows. What little energy he had was quickly fading again.

Mello pulled his desk chair next to Matt's bed.

"Give me your hand" he said.

Matt gave Mello a questioning look as he placed his hand weakly on Mello's.

"My mother used to hold my hand until I fell asleep. It seems kind of silly, but I liked it." Mello put his other hand on top of Matt's. He didn't quite know what else to do, so he aimlessly told Matt about something he had read the other day. Hey, he had to fill the silence with something, and he couldn't be expected to just hold still. Matt gave a feeble smile as his hand relaxed into Mello's grip. When he was with his mother, being sick was awful. He felt alone and vulnerable, unable to take care of himself. He would drift in and out of troubled sleep till he regained the strength to get out of bed. Mello made him feel safe, like everything was going to be okay. He fell into a peaceful sleep listening to Mello's voice drone on about nothing in particular.

When Matt fell asleep, Mello slipped out and into the kitchen for more food. He passed Mr. Benton in the hallway.

"Hiding away in your room today? I do hope you're keeping the volume down for Matt's sake." he said pleasantly

"Yeah, I have...a lot of studying to do. Gotta take that top spot from Near." Mello was always up to one thing or another, so he was used to covering for himself and his roommate.

Mello gathered up enough snacks for himself plus some extra in case Matt was hungry, and filled up another cup of water for him before returning. Matt was out like a light, so Mello amused himself with a set of high-level logic puzzles one of his teachers had given him. He had said L liked these at Mello's age, so it was worth a shot. The sun was dipping below the horizon when another knock came at the door. Mello opened it and gestured for quiet.

"Ah, he must be asleep." the nurse said softly, "I shan't disturb him, then. I'll check back in the morning."

"Yes, ma'am." Mello whispered, and closed the door. He should probably get ready for bed himself, he could read until he fell asleep while keeping an eye on Matt. He changed into his pajamas and curled up on his bed. He heard rustling from the other bed. Matt was squirming around, his eyes squeezed shut and sweat dripping from his forehead. He must be having a nightmare. Mello knew all too well about nightmares. He sometimes had horrible dreams about the night his parents died, and would wake up crying for them before remembering that they would never return. He used to cry himself back to sleep alone, but Matt had changed that. Matt would climb into bed and hold Mello until he could sleep again. How did he know to do that if he had never been comforted by his parents? He must be better at empathy than he lets on. Or maybe he was frightened by Mello's screams and was looking for safety himself.

Mello put down his book, turned off the light, and carefully climbed into Matt's bed. He didn't wake up, and made a small whimpering noise as he curled up into a ball. Mello laid next to him and put an arm around him. Matt's hands grabbed Mello's arm as if his life depended on it. Mello gasped in surprise, but pulled pulled Matt closer so his small body was pressed against Matt's hot back. Matt stayed there for a while, occasionally twitching or making small noises. Eventually, he relaxed, and his death grip on Mello's arm relaxed to a normal child's grip. Mello fell asleep with his arm around Matt, trying to protect him from the fevered nightmares.

When Mello awoke the next morning, his first thought was to get back into his own bed before he was caught cuddling Matt like a stuffed toy. He was nine, and he had his reputation to think about. He carefully slipped his arm from around Matt and hopped back into his bed just in the nick of time as a knock came at the door.

"Come in" said Mello, still a little groggy.

"Good morning, Mello" she said as she walked in, "Is Matt still asleep?"

"...Huh?" came a response from Matt's bed. He propped himself up on one elbow. He looked much better. His cheeks had gone back to their normal pale color, and his eyes were brighter, though still fogged from sleep.

"Good morning, Matt. You're looking much better." She looked at him closely and put a hand on his forehead, "The fever's gone down. Just like all the other boys, it's one day and then they're fine." she said, a little too cheerfully to be around two boys who had just woken up.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better. I'll be fine." Matt was trying to get rid of her. The nurse was nice, but too cheerful and loud for having just woken up.

"Excellent. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do. Have a good day, boys." The nurse hummed as she left the room.

Matt sat up and ran his fingers through his hair, which was even messier than usual.

"Someone woke up on the right side of the bed this morning." Matt said sarcastically, "Speaking of which, was that your arm around me last night or was it a dream?"

"It was me. You looked like you were having a nightmare." Mello looked away, "Hey, don't tell anyone about me playing nurse all day yesterday. I don't mind doing that for you, but I have a reputation to keep."

Matt smirked. Yup. That's Mello.

When Mello woke up three days later, his head was throbbing and he felt hot all over. He had been woken by Matt shaking his shoulder.

"Mels, wake up. We don't have class today, it's some weird English holiday." Matt's voice cut through the fog in his head, but there was no way Mello was getting up.

"Not now, Matt." he mumbled, wrapping the blankets tighter around him.

"You don't look so good. I'll call the nurse. I think you had what I had."

The nurse took one look at Mello and knew exactly what had happened. He hadn't even tried to stay away from Matt and had ended up sick himself. She normally would have scolded Mello for not listening, but he was clearly being punished enough. He was only nine, but he already had a mind of his own, that child.

"Well, Matt, I'm sure you remember what this is like. Let him rest, he should be better tomorrow. Good day, boys." She left the room.

Matt waited till her footsteps had died down then said, "I'll be right back."

Mello had propped himself up on pillows when the nurse came in, and he leaned heavily into them, staring off into space. He was brought back to reality by something cool on his forehead. Matt had gone to get a cloth for him. Mello watched as Matt pulled a thick, brightly colored volume from his own shelf. It was his book of Irish fairy tales. He sat on the bed and looked at Mello.

"Would you like a story?" he asked, his eyes soft and sympathetic.

"This feels familiar," Mello smirked weakly.

"I never got to say thank you for caring for me. It really made me feel better. So I'll thank you now by doing the same. You're my friend, I want you to feel better."

"Matt, you're the best," Mello snuggled deeper into the pillows, "And to answer your question, yes, I would like a story."

Matt opened the book and thumbed to a story, "Let's start with this one. It's called 'The Boyhood of Fionn…"


End file.
